Is Forgetting a Child in a Car Criminal?

Aug. 17, 2001 — -- Every week it seems there's another case, the lifeless body of a child is found in a car under the blazing sun and each time the reactions range from outrage that parents could be so negligent to deep sympathy for their loss. When it comes to prosecutors' handling of the cases, the range has been equally broad.

This year alone, according to Kids 'N Cars, a group that advocates for legislation and public awareness campaigns regarding child-safety in automobiles, 56 children have died when they were left unattended in cars, and prosecutors from Florida to California are facing the dilemma of trying to decide when negligence becomes criminal.

Even parents who accidentally left their children behind — whether from forgetfulness, distraction, or medication that dulled their thought process — can find themselves faced with charges ranging from negligence to manslaughter or even second-degree murder.

But according to a study of such cases by Anara Guard, the director of information with the Boston University School of Public Health, prosecutors are more likely to charge such parents than grand juries are.

"Grand juries represent the will of the community," Guard said. "Frequently when it is the parents themselves, the grand juries tend to feel the parents have suffered enough and they don't indict."

In the fraction of cases when the person who leaves the child in the car is a day care provider or baby sitter, the incidence of charges being filed is much higher, she said.

"I think there's good reason for that," Guard said. "That's their job and they're not supposed to be doing other things like running errands or going shopping."

Often the argument against prosecuting parents who — until their fatal mistake — were considered good parents is emotional, based on whether they need to be made to feel that what they did was wrong.

"I don't think sending a parent to jail is going to make a parent feel any worse," Kids 'N Cars co-founder Michelle Struttman said. "I think any parent would go to jail for the rest of their life if it would bring their child back."

Prosecutors say that when deciding whether to prosecute parents in these cases, they will often consider whether leaving the child unattended was part of a pattern of neglect or even abuse, or whether it was a tragic aberration.

"I think what you have to look at is that these cases are so different," Polk, Iowa, Assistant County Attorney George Karnas said. "Some parents have a history of being grossly reckless as parents. Whether that evidence is presented or not, it can enter into your judgement."

At issue for Al Parrish, an Iowa attorney who argues that parents who have no history of neglect or abuse before they forgot their children in a vehicle should not be prosecuted, is the question of criminal intent.

"I think what we're trying to do is criminalize a lot of conduct we don't need to criminalize," he said. "These parents are suffering already from the fact that they made the mistake. I'm not sure our criminal statutes were made for mothers who left their kids in these cars."

He said that if there is no criminal intent, there should be no charges filed.

In one of the more publicized cases, an Iowa hospital administrator left her 7-month-old daughter in her minivan while she attended meetings. The little girl died, and the woman, Kari Engholm, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.